


New Girl

by tornandfrayed



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Santos Administration, one-part egregious shoptalk, one-part sex farce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27041971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tornandfrayed/pseuds/tornandfrayed
Summary: “I think we are hardly ones to talk about professionalism.”“What? You and me? We were never that bad.”
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 9
Kudos: 72





	New Girl

December had arrived in a fury, blanketing the eastern seaboard in thick layer of snow. Still, the frigid weather had done nothing to temper the spirits of the White House staff, many of whom were eager to celebrate the Christmas holiday, as well as the more secular occasion of the end of President Santos’ first year in office. Thus, the staff had gathered in the meticulously decorated East Room to mark the occasions. 

While it was billed as a short reprieve from the usual daily stressors that were part and parcel to running the country, true to form, Josh Lyman remained enthralled by his ever-pinging Blackberry.

“I swear to god, I’ll kill him,” he growled as he scrolled rather violently through his inbox.

Donna Moss, for her part, was rather enjoying the intimate gathering of the administration’s 500 most-senior staffers and the several cases of free champagne the event included, “Who?”

“Justin—whatever, the lobbyist from Association of Water something.”

“He’s a legislative advocate,” Donna corrected as she continued to scan throughout the room, smiling pleasantly at several staffers surrounding them. “And it’s Association of California Water Agencies.”

“Exactly.” Josh nodded, “I’ll kill him.”

“That seems a bit extreme,” Donna hummed.

“I assure you; it is not.” Josh barked with humorless laughter, “He’s being all cagey on SB 441.”

“He’s a lobbyist, what do you expect?”

“Legislative advocate,” Josh sighed and looked up from his Blackberry, “I need to find Bram.”

“What?” Donna tore her gaze away from the towering Christmas tree in the middle of the room, “Why?”

“He needs to get up to the hill and meet with Senator Atkins,” Josh gave a frustrated exhale, “I’m tired of getting jerked around on this stupid bill.”

“Can’t you wait?” Donna pleaded, “The event is almost over.”

“Did I not just stand here while you had a twenty-minute conversation with Secretary Morrell?”

“Yes but—”

“So, you’re allowed to work, but I’m not?”

“Well—” 

“Anyway,” Josh peered over Donna’s head, towards the center of the room, where Bram’s towering frame was only partially obscured by the tree’s branches, “I can see him, he’s right over there.”

“Wait!”

Josh stopped in his tracks, his gaze affixed to the spot where he had just seen his young deputy, “Who is _that_?”

“Who is who?” Donna feigned. 

“ _She_. _Her_ ,” he gestured incredulously towards the brunette who was deep in conversation, “with Bram.”

“Oh, her?” Donna asked innocently, “That’s my new policy consultant.” Donna looked between the couple. and where Josh was stood next to her. “And she’s twenty-four years old, so you can put your eyes back into your head, thank you.” 

Realizing that even he had enough tact not to check out another woman in front of his girlfriend, partner, whatever it was Donna was to him, Josh shook his head to clear the mental fog that had begun to invade his brain. “What, so we’re hiring people directly out of high school now?”

“Well, I’m not sure about where she went to high school,” Donna hedged, “but I know she has a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a master’s degree from Georgetown.” 

Josh cocked his head as he watched the woman twirl her hair, “She and Bram are not talking about work, are they?”

“Most likely not.” Donna sighed, “We think they like each other. We’re trying to set them up.”

“ _We_?”

“Me, Annabeth, and the First Lady.”

“Oh my god,” Josh rolled his eyes, “do you do any actual work over on that side of the building?”

“ _Josh_.”

“I mean it’s the White House not the Bachelor Mansion.”

Glancing away from the young couple across the room, Donna gave Josh a pointed look, “I think we're hardly ones to talk about professionalism.”

“What? You and me? We were never that bad,” Josh waived his hand in their direction for emphasis. 

“I think there are many from the Bartlet Administration who would disagree,” Donna tutted. 

“No way. These two are practically undressing each other with their eyes.”

“Hardly, Josh. They look like they’re laughing to me.”

Josh gestured towards them again, “Look at the way their legs are crossed towards each other. That’s a classic ‘I’m interested’ signal.”

“ _I’m interested_?” Donna raised a skeptical eyebrow, “So _now_ you can read signals?”

“No, it’s just that obvious!” Josh burst, drawing the attention of several other partygoers. 

After taking the opportunity to say polite hellos to the staffers around them, Donna continued, “We think they’re already having sex anyways.”

“Seriously,” Josh cringed, “what goes on over on your side of the building?”

“What?” It was Donna’s turn to sound incredulous, “They’re both young and attractive. Why can’t we spend ten minutes a day doing something fun like trying to set them up on a date?”

“If they’re already having sex,” Josh began, the confusion evident on his face, “why do they need to be set up on a date?”

“Oh, Josh,” Donna gave his forearm a patronizing tap, “get with the times.”

“Believe me,” he sighed distractedly, as the beeping of his cellphone recaptured his attention, “I’m trying.”

Donna took a slow sip of her wine before continuing, “Having sex and dating are two totally different things.” 

Josh started, and glanced up from the email he was reading, “If only someone had explained that to me twenty years ago.”

Donna wrinkled her nose, “And since when do you have time to watch the Bachelor?”

Josh groaned, he should have known she wouldn’t let that comment slip, “Don’t ask.”

“ _I_ don’t even watch the Bachelor,” Donna teased.

“It was Sam—” He began defensively, “no, you know what, never mind. We do actual work over in the West Wing, so what if we spend ten minutes having fun?”

“See, now you’re getting it.” Donna smiled, taking another sip of her wine, allowing her and Josh to fall into an easy silence as the party continued to swirl around them. “But for the record, I know for a fact that Bachelor episodes are like two hours long.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you couldn’t tell my aesthetic is just Josh plus Donna plus Conversation. Anyways, I acknowledge that this is stupid, but it was fun to write, and I will not apologize for that. 
> 
> Thank you for reading. Your comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.
> 
> If you're interested, come hang out with me on [tumblr](https://torn--and--frayed.tumblr.com/)


End file.
